“This really is dog whistle politics, and pandering to racism and xenophobia – which is why I was upset in the first place. A storm in a tea cup? Perhaps. But tea cups matter, as do the messages on them.” Paul Bernal provides seven alternative suggestions in place of Labour’s pledge on immigration controls.

“As long as we continue to build far fewer new homes than are needed it will be harder to prevent people becoming homeless, especially now the biggest cause of homelessness is people losing their private sector tenancy.” Thomas Neumark wonders why increasing homelessness is the invisible issue in the housing debate.

“[J]ust about everything do to with our prison system has got much worse since Mr Grayling came into office in 2012. That’s a pretty shocking record by any standards.” Alex Cavendish reflects on the pressures on the prison system as we near the 25th anniversary of the riot at HMP Strangeways.

“The research revealed that all ten [private health companies] make use of tax havens and extremely complex corporate structures to lessen their potential tax bill, while only two pay any significant tax in the UK at all.” Durham Community Support Centre looks at how the companies bidding for NHS services are also tax avoiders.

“The first thing to say is that shooting from the hip is the very worst way in which to make public policy about child protection. And trying to garner a few extra votes in the forthcoming general election by hitting out at easy targets is a pretty low way to behave.” Chris Mills argues for a just reporting culture in child protection.

“Today we saw the publication of the Labour Party’s first election poster of the 2015 campaign, and it is a nasty, negative little piece of work.” Samuel Hooper laments what Labour’s general election advertising says about the lack of positivity and vision in today’s politics generally.

“I always had trouble with “For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath.” Which is a shame, as George Osborne seems to have taken it as his inspiration for his final Budget as coalition chancellor.” Wendy Bradley explains who benefits – and who doesn’t – from the Budget.